"Wild-Rose of the Prairies," he said,
"DuLuth listens not to the Ha-ha,
For the wail of the ghost of the dead,
for her babe and its father unfaithful;
But he lists to a voice in his heart
that is heard by the ear of no other,
And to-day will the White Chief depart
--he returns to the land of the sunrise."
"Let Winona depart with the chief,
--she will kindle the fire in his teepee;
For long are the days of her grief,
if she stay in the tee of Ta-te-psin,"
She replied and her cheeks were aflame
with the bloom of the wild prairie lilies.
"Tanke, [a] is the White Chief to blame?"
said DuLuth to the blushing Winona.
"The White Chief is blameless," she said,
"but the heart of Winona will follow
Wherever thy footsteps may lead,
O blue-eyed brave Chief of the white men.
For her mother sleeps long in the mound,
and a step-mother rules in the teepee.
And her father, once strong and renowned,
is bent with the weight of his winters.
No longer he handles the spear,
--no longer his swift, humming arrows
Overtake the fleet feet of the deer,
or the bear of the woods, or the bison;
But he bends as he walks, and the wind
shakes his white hair and hinders his footsteps;